Testing for Intelligence
Measuring the intelligence of the whole child in my opinion should be based on experience and knowledge of the child's background or culture. Learning numbers and language and developing gross motor skills is needed to communicate and to successfully function in his environment. However, culturally children are not exposed to the same experiences as the next child. Children that are exposed to museums, travel to other countries or states have a much broader understanding of what the world can offer. Children who have not been exposed to these experiences and probably never will be can only imagine what the world has to offer. So, when assessments are performed on young children exposure should be taken into consideration as well health conditions and parent participation. Parents play a big part in exposing their children to the world around them but they have to be interested in teaching their children and not wait on the school system to limit their child's intellectual ability based on an assessment test designed to test what children know. Who are we to state what a child should know. I firmly believe children know what they know through based on the involvement and teaching from the adults in their lives.
"Education system in Germany"
In Germany children are assessed and placed in different schools based on their age and their developmental ability and time needed in this particular school to strengthen areas of concern. There are six schools of interest:
- Kindergarten - children begin school at age 3-4 where they learn to socialize, learn alphabets and numbers through play.
- Grundschule (elementary/grade school) - children attend at age 7-11 learning motor coordination for writing and the German language.
- Forder-Sonderschulen (special needs education) - Children with learning difficulties and slower learners.
- Hauptschulen (secondary school) - children that would not manage in the realschulen and are assessed continuously through (tests, exams). Reports are given annually and children work toward their certificate.
- Realschulen (secondary school) - children learn technical and commercial occupations that do not require higher education.
- Gymnasium (high school) - children who are academically capable receive an extensive curriculum and standards are very high. Assessments are carried out by frequent (tests, exams) and dictation tasks are assigned. Children have the option to leave school during klass (grade) 10 but it is highly encouraged for them to complete klass (grade) 12.
Furthermore children are relocated based on their achievements and ability.
References
Hello Shelita, I like your post. I also think that sometimes many items on standardized tests focus on assessing skills learned outside of school, so children's socioeconomic status is also correlated with standardized test scores. This particular factor will influence negatively. Unfortunately, you will find more of these items on standardized achievement tests. For example, if a child comes from a family with stimulus-rich environments, most likely he will succeed on these standardized achievement test items than will other child whose environments do not connect as well with the tests portion.
ReplyDeleteIn other hands, typical multiple-choice and short-answer tests are not the only way or the best way, to measure a student's knowledge and abilities. Many states are integrating performance-based assessments into their standardized tests or adding assessment tools for example student presentations as extra methods of student understanding. These multiple methods of assessment involve students to apply what they're learning to real-world tasks. These include assignments and standards-based projects that require children to use their knowledge and skills facilitating a reasonable and reliable evaluation of the student work. Also, the pupils have the opportunities to receive feedback from educators, peers, and other experts.
With these developmental and combined types of assessment, a teacher can immediately intervene. Change the course when assessments show that a particular lesson or strategy is not working for a child as well as offer new challenges for students who have mastered a concept or skill.
Source
How Should We Measure Student Learning? The Many Forms of Assessment. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/comprehensive-assessment-introduction